Sony showcases latest innovations at NAB 2024

At NAB Show 2024, and beyond, Sony is committed to enhancing solutions in the remote and distributed production, capture, monitor, audio, cloud, and virtual production realm.

These technologies are empowering media and entertainment creators and professionals, at every level, by creating efficiencies, enhancing productivity, and solving challenges. Visitors to booth C8201 will experience Sony’s connected ecosystem of tools, receive demonstrations from brand experts, and learn about the latest trends reshaping the broadcast, live production, newsgathering, and cinema spaces.

“NAB Show continues to be an opportunity for our brand to engage with the community and champion the latest technologies and workflows,” said Olivier Bovis, Deputy Head of Pan European Imaging Product and Solutions, Sony Europe. “Over the last few years, we’ve prioritised our focus on improving the innovations that are helping connect, reimagine, and streamline our customers’ efforts. We remain committed to enhancing the benefits of IP, capture, cloud, and virtual production, which are changing the way our industry does business.”

Remote and Distributed Production

Sony’s Networked Live portfolio is an ecosystem designed to enable production resources to be optimally connected, used, and shared, regardless of location to facilitate remote and distributed production through on-premise and cloud hybrid solutions. It is comprised of three core applications: Contribution, Remote Production, and In-House Production.

Updates in this area include new V1.1 functionality for the NXL-ME80 LAN/WAN media transport appliance, expected in summer of 2024 . This will allow the device to work as a receiver alongside the CBK-RPU7 remote production unit, in a private 5G communication environment. The firmware will also increase the channels in Ultra Low Latency mode and offer support for 24P format.

Additionally, the M2L-X software-based switcher will be exhibited at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) booth (West Hall – W1701), as a part of a live cloud production solution.

Cloud

Creators’ Cloud, Sony’s suite of cloud-based platforms and apps, supports individuals and enterprises with many versatile components, which can be used separately or together for increased power.

Ci Media Cloud®, Sony’s collaboration and media management service, has added new ways to streamline production workflows and strengthen non-linear editing collaboration. A new integration with Marquis Broadcast’s Medway provides automated ingest from Ci into Avid systems. Ci has significantly expanded its media processing capabilities with the addition of Colorfront Transkoder directly into the platform. Ci is also officially launching Ci Workflow to support fully automated VFX pulls.

A new PC-based PWA-RX1 software application will be demonstrated, with planned availability in summer 2024. The application will inherit Quality of Service (QoS) functionality of the PWS-110RX1A, offering stable, low latency, high quality, live video streaming, with the use of Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) hardware.  Although the PWA-RX1 can be used without the cloud, pairing it with Sony’s C3 Portal (C3P) cloud gateway service further enhances its workflow feature sets such as SDI output. In related news, in addition to Teradek, LiveU, and TVU Networks, C3P can now be used in combination with Dejero and Haivision.

Monitor & Control^[1] ver. 2.0.0, an updated offering for Creators’ Cloud for individuals will be previewed and is scheduled to be released in May 2024 onwards. For filmmakers shooting short films, and documentaries with a small team, it will provide multiple additional features including a Multi-Camera Monitoring function, for iPadOS, which provides up to 4 cameras, full screen display function for monitoring, desqueeze display function for anamorphic lenses, and a focus map monitoring display function.

Capture, Monitors, and Audio

Sony’s imaging portfolio, comprised of a full range of production solutions including cameras, monitors, and audio, continues to expand and offer new possibilities. At NAB Show 2024, the company is announcing an integrated-lens pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera, BRC-AM7, with built-in AI analytics. Highlights include a high-quality 1” CMOS sensor for 4K 60p image performance, AI-enabled PTZ Auto Framing options, and seamless integration with Sony’s system cameras and switchers, as well as color matching with Sony’s ecosystem. The new PTZ camera is expected to be available in early 2025 and a prototype will be on display at the show.

Sony’s popular Cinema Line of cameras is enhancing with updates to the FX series, which will be exhibited at NAB, alongside BURANO, the high-end, CineAlta digital cinema camera, which is now available.

Sony’s series of PVM pro monitors (PVM-X3200, PVM-X2400 , PVM-X1800) will be on display featuring Version 5.0 firmware, expected in summer 2024. Updates include simultaneous HDR and SDR video production, HDR optimized functions including automatic 4K/HD SDI settings, detailed black brightness settings, and support for interlace mode. Additionally, a new monitor controller prototype, BVMK-R10 , planned to be available in fall 2024, will be on display at NAB Show demonstrating its illuminated buttons and small menu screen, optimized for use in outside broadcast (OB) trucks and studios.

Updates in the pro audio space include the DWA-F03D, an expandable adapter which connects to Sony’s DWR-S03D slot-in receiver to create a lightweight solution ideal for field audio recording, which is expected to ship in the summer of 2024.

Also new to the show will be two additions to Crispin’s CORE product family of adaptable options for automation. Crispin CORE Assetbase offers customers a central asset management tool via a single sign-on. Crispin CORE Record and Prep Manager is a browser-based tool that allows users to view, schedule, and control all available ingest and prep resources.

Virtual Production

Combining the realism of location shooting with the flexibility of virtual sets, virtual production is elevating productions by enhancing workflows and empowering creativity while creating cost efficiencies.

The upcoming version of Sony’s Virtual Production Tool Set will be on display at NAB Show. A compilation of resources to help improve pre-production and on-set workflows, new functionality includes additional camera compatibility, camera setting synchronization between the VENICE digital cinema camera series and Unreal Engine, and the ability to manage virtual cameras using a tablet.

NAB Show attendees will experience Sony’s Crystal LED VERONA display which brings quality and efficiency to in-camera VFX applications. It features a new Deep Black and Anti-Reflection Surface Technology, and an easy-installation 1:1 cabinet design. Cinematic 24p content will demonstrate a real-world workflow based on ETC@USC’s recent short film project EUROPA which utilized the Virtual Production Tool Set to connect pre-production with on-set shooting in a color-managed workflow. In addition, 60p visuals will demonstrate multi-camera switching in broadcast environments.